As a Flight Advisor, I am always interested in reading First Flight Stories from homebuilders. Always full of joy, they frequently include little tidbits of information about things that didn?t go ?exactly? as the pilot expected. In fact, it is rare when something slightly out of the ordinary DOESN?T occur! Unusual instrument readings, heavy wings, unexpected wind noise or rattles ? almost all of these things are usually due to minor, non-threatening causes which, if ignored make no difference to the safe and successful completion of the flight. (Complete silence at 400 feet or reversed control action would not be included in this list of ?minor? annoyances BTW?.) When I talk to pilots? about their upcoming first flights, I like to spend time discussing these minor problems, and to get an understanding of the individual?s tolerance to the off-nominal, because how they react is going to determine if the issues will simply be minor notes on the kneeboard ? or major distractions that lead to bent metal! Successful test pilots have proven their capability to distinguish between the two, and to filter out those events which might lead them down the road to a mishap.
It would be interesting to build a list of events in one place (this thread being a good place) that RV?ers have experienced on first flights for the purpose of giving those yet to make their first flights a place to read about the distractions for which they might want to be prepared. Forewarned is forearmed, and you can never be too well armed when going many tens of knots a significant distance above the ground. Put bluntly - the accident records are filled with tales of bent airplanes that resulted from pilot distraction caused by what should have been ignored, and that?s a shame! If we share those tales and stories, we can build a nice library of things to review before those all-important first flights ? things to ignore, and things that require attention. The goal, of course, is to help people understand the difference.
An example. As I added power for the first take-off in the Valkyrie, everything looked and felt good. I was mostly concentrating on staying on the narrow taxiway that served as a temporary runway during some airport construction, and keeping the plane straight during the early acceleration part of the roll. When I looked down to check the gauges, I noticed that the RPM?s were indicating 1800 ? well below the 2700 rpm redline I would have expected with full throttle. Due to the incredible acceleration of the RV, I was already at takeoff speed by the time this all registered, and a rejected takeoff would have been more difficult than flying ? so I flew. I knew by the seat of my pants that I had full power, and the indication was meaningless ? I didn?t let it distract me from flying the airplane. It turned out to be an incorrect constant that was set in the EFIS, easily corrected by the next flight, but something that needed to be ignored at the time. An abort could easily have lead to a bent airplane as I learned about the effect of deceleration on steering in an airplane I hadn?t flown before.
From insects in the cockpit to missed push-buttons on audio panels; from minor oil leaks to loose wing root fairings ? I am sure we can build quite a list. Anyone else want to share their ?there I was? stories?
Paul
It would be interesting to build a list of events in one place (this thread being a good place) that RV?ers have experienced on first flights for the purpose of giving those yet to make their first flights a place to read about the distractions for which they might want to be prepared. Forewarned is forearmed, and you can never be too well armed when going many tens of knots a significant distance above the ground. Put bluntly - the accident records are filled with tales of bent airplanes that resulted from pilot distraction caused by what should have been ignored, and that?s a shame! If we share those tales and stories, we can build a nice library of things to review before those all-important first flights ? things to ignore, and things that require attention. The goal, of course, is to help people understand the difference.
An example. As I added power for the first take-off in the Valkyrie, everything looked and felt good. I was mostly concentrating on staying on the narrow taxiway that served as a temporary runway during some airport construction, and keeping the plane straight during the early acceleration part of the roll. When I looked down to check the gauges, I noticed that the RPM?s were indicating 1800 ? well below the 2700 rpm redline I would have expected with full throttle. Due to the incredible acceleration of the RV, I was already at takeoff speed by the time this all registered, and a rejected takeoff would have been more difficult than flying ? so I flew. I knew by the seat of my pants that I had full power, and the indication was meaningless ? I didn?t let it distract me from flying the airplane. It turned out to be an incorrect constant that was set in the EFIS, easily corrected by the next flight, but something that needed to be ignored at the time. An abort could easily have lead to a bent airplane as I learned about the effect of deceleration on steering in an airplane I hadn?t flown before.
From insects in the cockpit to missed push-buttons on audio panels; from minor oil leaks to loose wing root fairings ? I am sure we can build quite a list. Anyone else want to share their ?there I was? stories?
Paul